Hair It Is
by Anna Nimmie Tee
Summary: How much was Gourry's meeting with Lina chance? A little Luna see from me, just when I thought I was over writing this stuff.


Hair It Is

By Anna Nimmie Tee

(Just borrowing the characters from Kanzaka with no intention of gain)

The dark-haired, middle-aged, but youthful looking man with an unlit cigarette dangling from his lips eased himself into the booth at the Dragon Soul Restaurant. He gave a tired sigh and signaled a certain buxom waitress to come over. She turned to a curly haired, blonde waitress and ordered, "Watch my tables. He's returned." The other woman shivered and complied.

"Welcome back. Guess you didn't catch any fish or you wouldn't have come in here. So what'll it be today?"

"A stein of Old Castle ale and the house special, Hon."

A knife suddenly flashed and the tobacco dumped into the hand of the waitress.

"You know ciggies aren't allowed in here," she said calmly.

"Hey, it wasn't lit!"

"You look like crap in your dirty travel clothes and with that dangling coffin nail. Lowers the class of this place." With that she strode off, hips angrily swaying, to toss the remains of the cigarette and fetch his ale. After writing up his order, she tossed it at the chef.

When she returned with the ale, she found him playing with the paper coasters and condiments. "You won't grow up, will you?" she snarled as she yanked a coaster from the middle of the structure he was building and the construct tumbled apart.

"Nope! Ahhh, your ale hits the spot for a weary traveler," he declared happily, after a good swig from the stein placed in front of him.

"So, Ready to face Mom and me again?" she inquired as she sat down opposite him.

"After that bit with the cigarette, I don't know, Daughter. We'll see. Speaking of traveling, any word about your sister?"

"It's high time she be provided with a new companion. Royal bimbo has become a royal, drunken pain in the ass. Doesn't really look out for Sis' safety or do much to restrain her. Prods Sis into trouble is more like it."

"It wouldn't take much to do that with my younger darling."

The waitress snorted and flicked her hair over her shoulder, "I know. See any likely replacement prospects? Sis is still too afraid to come home and face me."

"Well, I think I may have found her new protector, Luna."

"Hope so. Lina needs someone unafraid of blood and not so greedy. Describe."

"The name he gave is Gourry Gabriev. Handsome young man, age between 20 and 23, I'd say. Long, blond hair, excellent reflexes and swordsmanship. Great build, tall. Very well trained in the martial arts."

"Lina's reached the hormonal age. Would she be safe? Would he?"

"A kind young man, though not too quick on the uptake. No competition for Lina in the brains department. Chivilrous. Some pain in his blue eyes, though. He's got the eyes that have seen too much blood shed of the wrong people. Huh, ya know what? I told him a lot about myself. He's got that kind of face. Doesn't talk much about himself, though."

"Predictable?"

"You might think so, but he can pull surprises. He was going to throw his sword away when I met him. It seemed a decent sword, and so I admonished him and offered to take it. Good thing he didn't toss it into the sea. We fought a mazoku, and to my astonishment, he took the blade out of the hilt."

"You want a nut to guard Lina," Luna commented dryly.

"Wait. It was the Sword of Light."

"What! It still exists?" Luna paused a second and then resumed, "It's been well hidden so many years. He must have a strong will to use it to kill a mazoku. And he had been thinking of throwing it into the sea! . Huh! Poor guy! Something must've really been eating at him."

"I think I may have convinced him that the sword was too useful to cast away, and if he didn't give it to me, he should find a purpose in life to give it meaning."

"Or continue to control it."

"That's a cryptic statement."

"Never mind. But how will we find him again?"

"I told you he had long, blond hair. You know how long hair can get into everything. I've unclogged enough drains from Lina's and your mother's hair, not to mention picking it off furniture and food."

"Yeah. I gotta keep it a decent length for my job. Customers don't like furry food."

"Anyway, I managed to collect some of his. Think some of your sorcerer friends can use it to put a trace on it and use it to nudge him towards Lina?"

The man reached inside his vest and pulled out a folded red bandana. He opened it and handed some coiled gold strands to his daughter. When the hair touched her hand, she started a little. "Well, waddaya know!" she exclaimed very softly.

"What?" queried her father.

"Um. Just something that makes him the right choice for Lina. I know just the person to help us out." she replied absently and tucked the strands in her apron pocket. "Here come some more customers, and your order is up. Gotta get back to work." So saying she stood up, order tablet in hand.

After her shift was over, rather than going home, she followed a twisting path through the woods to what looked like a tall cabinet with folding glass doors. She knocked.

"'S me, Olwe. Calling in a favor."

"It's about time!" came a voice from within. "Come on in, Luna!"

"Actually, not about time," she punned as she slid open the doors and entered into a huge, domed room with all sorts of magic apparati in it. "It's about a companion for Lina."

A thin, wiry old man in robes that seemed to change color with movement had a striped scarf about his scrawny neck and was leaning over a scrying glass. "Last time I looked, Naga was still with your sister, but I've been so busy lately I haven't been able to keep tabs on Lina for you like I usually do. I was just about to look." He then snorted, "The princess of pulchritude left her? That's not necessarily a bad thing. Eh, mind that clock and candle stick scuttling around the glass here."

As a comfy chair came up behind her, Luna carefully avoided the said objects and then sat down before replying, "Not left yet, but she should. Got a lead on a new one. Need you to help things along." She withdrew the strands of bright hair from her pocket and handed them to the sorcerer. "A warrior and the current Swordsman of Light."

"Whew! You gotta be kidding me! The Sword of Light hasn't been seen for at least a century and a half!" he exclaimed. He shut his eyes and held the hair sandwiched between his palms. After a few moments, he spoke, his eyes still closed, "Hmm. This person has a great capacity for magic, if the aura coming off this hair is any indication." His eyes flew open. "Where are my manners? Tea?"

"Please," Luna requested and added, "Dad said he didn't seem to know much about magic, though. Fine, if he can't perform magic other than that with the Sword of Light. Won't be the competition games the princess plays that has gotten the both Lina and her in such trouble. Seems rather content to follow a strong person's lead."

A tea tray flew in with a teapot and two cups, lemon, spoons, and sugar. Olwe examined the cups before allowing the teapot to pour. "Sometimes the cups don't remember to wash themselves properly," he explained. "You take lemon and sugar, right?"

"Yes, thank you."

The sorcerer uncoiled the strands and held them up in one hand while stroking his long beard with the other and gazing at their length and brightness. He observedy, "By the length and color of this hair, I'd say he once belonged to a specific Elmekian warrior caste, that of the elite guard of the former emperor."

"Hair that long as a matter of honor because men so skilled, long hair no problem?"

"Nah. They just had a general phobia about sharp sissor blades flying about their heads. It made them more alert to danger."

Luna face-faulted, and the teapot snickered. In response, her handy-dandy kitchen knife flashed and the vessel's tea-cozy fell in shreds on the tea tray. If a teapot could blush, it would have. As it was, it gave a squeal and urged the tray to fly with it to the kitchen. Luna then sat back the chair to sip her tea and daintly crossed her legs, which appendages the old sorcerer looked at with a smirk of appreciation.

"Aren't you a bit old for that? You know what I can do to perverts."

"Now, now, my dear, a man is never too old to appreciate the beauty of nature's art. An old geezer has to have some pleasure left in his life." He continued his previous thread of discussion, "After the civil war there and defeat of the emperor, I heard most of the guard then became mercenaries and scattered about. I'll have to make some inquiries of some sorcerers in Elmekia about our friend here. Can you come back tomorrow?"

"It's my day off. I'll be here tomorrow afternoon. Gotta do other things," she replied.

With another glance at her legs, Olwe muttered, "Speaking of distractions, let's see what this lad looks like." The sorcerer held the strands in his left hand and circling his right over the hair murmured the projection spell. This gave Luna a little involuntary twitch of annoyance as she remembered how Lina had used that same spell.

"Oh ho, ho," he laughed as he looked at the image that appeared of a blond warrior in his early twenties who just happened to be stark naked in a hot spring. "Lina may be safe from him, but I wonder about him from her, once her hormones kick in."

Luna blushed slightly, but she chuckled wickedly, "Huh, speaking of nature's art. Damn, too bad he's destined for Lina! Could fancy him and his sword for myself!"

"Which sword?" leered Olwe.

"That appropriate for a modest maiden like myself," she mock simpered as she fluttered her eyelashes."'Bye, you old goat! Thanks for the tea and the show!" So saying, she left for home and further reunion with her father.

The next day, true to her word Luna reappeared at the old sorcerer's. She also brought him some of her restaurant's special tea cakes.

"I was right about him being from Elmekia," Olwe gleefully told her rubbing his hands free of some dried herbs over a boiling cauldron. "As a matter of fact, I was even able to contact the sorcerer who taught him!"

"Uh, oh. He's a sorcerer after all?"

"No, thanks to a head trauma during the Elmekian civil war, his short term memory is impaired and he can no longer remember spells or even remember he used to know spells. It took a great deal of therapy for him to regain his rather awsome fighting skills. His father brought the Sword of Light out of hidding, hoping Gourry's using it as a magic crutch would break the seal on the young man's memory of magic use. It had the unfortunate result of attracting the jealousy of Gourry's relatives, who nearly killed each other for it. In fact one cousin did die because of the infighting. That's when Gourry's mother shoved him out of the castle in the dark of night and told him to take the cursed sword with him."

"That's why Dad found him about to throw the sword into the sea!"

"What a loss that would have been! From what his sorcerer tutor said, he is a rather upright and kind young man, despite his harsh martial training and career. The family feud apparently devastated him. He also has a rather strong moral code, sometimes to the dismay of his mercenary friends. Not to worry. Lina would be safe with him."

It was on the tip of her tongue to add a certain something she had sensed as Ceifeid's Knight, but she decided not to mention it. She just said, "Good. As I said yesterday, it's just as well he isn't a magic user. No more Nagas for Lina."

"One good thing about his capacity, even though he can't use it, Lina could tap into it in emergencies. He'd be sort of a walking power pack," Olwe added. "Besides, you are the most powerful human in our universe, but you don't use magic. He's rather like you to a lesser degree."

"Ah, yes. Hmm," she replied a little uneasily, as any mention of her other occupation made her a little uncomfortable. It was very lonely being the Knight of Ceifeid. Respect was good, but awe and fear didn't make for close friendships. Then she got down to business. "All right then. Nudge things along, Olwe.You already have a piece of Lina's formal sorcerer's robe and a wine bottle the her present companion drank from. Now you have the hair of her new partner."

"I'm a little backed up right now with some work for the queen and the Sorcerers' Guild, but it should be done in a day or two."

"The sooner the better, but you are doing me a free favor. Can't complain. Thanks, Olwe."

"You lighten up my day with your presence, Luna."

"Flattering old fool," Luna said with some affection.

"There is a good reason, nevertheless, to help you. It'll be a good thing for all of us that that impetuous sister of yours has someone that can keep her from the allure of the evil side of black magic before she destroys herself, others, and a good deal of real estate. She way has too much potential to be abusive with her magical specialty, what with the issues she has with greed and temper control."

Luna sighed and looked sadly out the door. "Some of her issues are because of who I am. She was the typical annoying little sister times ten because she felt she had to live up to me somehow. Had to be so strict with her. Mom was too proud of Lina's following in her footsteps to control Lina adequately. Plus Lina's magical capacity exceeded Mom's anyway." This was a long speech for Luna and exposed regrets she rarely showed to anyone, not even her parents. Olwe was indeed a good friend.

"But her heart is good, Luna. It still is and hopefully this young man will help her to keep it so."

"We can only try our best."

Olwe slapped his head and exclaimed, "Oh, I almost forgot!. I have something for you." The sorcerer withdrew a cardboard box from his left sleeve and handed it to the purple-haired woman.

"Dog biscuits?" she queried in a puzzled tone.

"You need a pet, something to care for and comfort you with its affection," he grinned knowingly. "One of Lina's adventures brings you one."

Luna tilted her head to the side, and although her face could not be discerned from her cheekbones up because of her bangs, Olwe knew she had raised an eyebrow in askance. "Olwe, have you been "traveling"? Curiousity will get you in trouble again!"

"Just a little random trip for amusement and limited to our town. Not to worry. I didn't touch anything or reveal myself to anyone. Those doggy biscuits were bought in the present."

"Hmmm. So I'll have a canine in my future?"

"Sort of. A rather unusal one. More information will just ruin your amusement."

"Well, uh, thanks again. 'Bye for now."

"And thank you for those tea cakes. You know I'm a lousy baker. Safe journey home, Luna."

A few days later a certain runaway princess decided she didn't mind Lina had gone off on her own that morning. It was tiresome having that flat-chested shrimp getting in the way of her making her own fortune. What good was an apprentice who wouldn't listen to your sage advice and fireballed you all the time? Where to go? Hmmm. That cute, young golem maker. He had respect for her and even rightly worshiped her. It might be worth a return to his village. Maybe they could work up a partnership, given her own talents with golems. And so she headed off for what she considered her well deserved reward for her beauty and power. Girls just wanna have fun. And gold. Let little sister inherit the throne and the family intrigues.

In another kingdom, clad only in her nightshift, Marla softly and quietly, for one so large, entered the young wandering mercenary's sleeping quarters an hour before dawn. She intended to seduce him into staying with her before her sisters claimed him. His muscles must be good for other things besides fighting and helping her father with the farm. Slowly and carefully she lifted the covers to slip into the bed next to the sleeping form. She reached over to stroke the beautiful muscles of his chest and encountered a rather bountiful breast.

"What the hell!" she shrieked.

She was answered by, "Damn it, Marla! I was here first!"

From under the bed came another squawk as it sank with the weight of both hefty girls. Marla leaned over the side and grabbed a handful of curly red hair.

"Yeow, yeow, yeow! Let go, let go!" yelled the third sister, a rather stick of a girl, as her sibling yanked her out of her hiding place.

"And what do you think you're doing? Both of you!" Marla snarled. "I'm the oldest. I should marry first."

"Why?" whined the other two in chorus. "He should marry whoever he likes!"

Marla didn't let go of the youngest's hair. Reaching with her free hand, she snatched hold of the other's tresses. The distressed sisters then began scratching and punching her and each other, all of them claiming the absent swordsman.

"I'll be truer to him than you, you slut," the middle sister exclaimed to Marla.

"I'll be truer," she replied.

"I'll be true, mostly," the youngest added.

"Sorry, girls, your prey just left," came an amused, deep voice from the doorway. The girls stopped fighting to gape at their father leaning against the door jambe with his arms crossed. "There was an explosion from that bandit infested forest a few miles away. It woke several of the neighbors, but apparently not you gals. Anyway, they came over here to ask that young warrior if he would investigate. We've had enough stock, crops, and valuables stolen, and if those bandits were wiped out, good riddance! Anyway, he agreed to check on the blast and fire we could see glowing in the distance and dressed, armed himself, and left after your mother fed him."

"Awwww!" chorused the girls.

"It's just as well. Damn, he could eat! Good thing the crops were excellent this year, but if he stayed longer, we could have starved this winter!"

Meanwhile Gourry Gabriev, not knowing the feminine peril he had escaped, followed the road to the forest. He had fed and slept well and felt he had to repay the kindness by looking into the pre-dawn blast and fire. He felt confident in his skills but at loose ends, and desperately needed a purpose to which to put his skills and sword. Helping out here and there was ok, but did not really satisfy his soul's hunger, as the jobs were only temporary. He needed something or someone to be devoted to. The emperor was gone, and now he could never return to his family because of his taking of the Sword of Light. While taking a deep breath of the fresh, sweet morning air, he watchfully entered the forest with its birds chirping a greeting to the rising sun. The day promised to be a warm one. As he walked along the well worn path, he saw glints from several weapons shining through the trees and bushes ahead. The sounds of a young woman's voice answered by the harsh tones of a male came to his hearing. To his experienced ears and eyes, it appeared the lass would soon be in great trouble. Thus he came face to face with the spunky young Lina Inverse, and he found his purpose and a way to return to the ideals of his upbringing.

Chaos smiled. Things were going according to plan

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We know Gourry is from Elmekia (novel 15), was educated by sorcerer (first manga), fought in at least one war (manga), took the Sword of Light away because of fighting in his family, and, according to Kanzaka, has large magic capacity almost to Dragon Slave level and is "eternally" 22 years old .

In the manga with the reborn Zanaffar, Zelgadiss had his magic sealed away, but although he couldn't use his magic himself, he suggested to Lina that she tap into his magic pool to augument her power. In a couple of illustrations for maybe the last novel, it looks like Lina can do that with Gourry. They are holding hands and it looks like a spell is being cast in one picture. Their mouths are open in a dual shout. In the other it seems like they are looking at the results. If the interpretation is correct, that'd make Gourry like a walking talisman to Lina! If only all the novels were translated into English. Argh! the frustration!

That bit with Gourry perhaps being a former royal guardsman is complete conjecture/fantasy on my part. The only things we know about Elmekia is it had/has an emperor and is a desert country. I don't even know if the war Gourry fought in was in Elmekia. Please let me indulge my wicked, fancrone ways. I'm also little confused by the time line. Apparently somewhere it was revealed that Gourry left home at 16 or 17. But he tried to throw away the SOL and thus met Lina's father a few days before meeting Lina, and yet Kanzaka said Gourry was eternally 22. That means meeting Lina would have been about 5-6 years after he left home. Why did it take 5-6 years for him so upset as to try to get rid of the SOL instead of when he first left home? Also in the manga, the old warrior friend with whom he fought side by side in the war said he had heard Gourry was useless and thought Gourry had forgotten how to fight. I decided to fantasize that Gourry had left home at 16 to join the emperor's guard but was injured, went home to recover, and then left with the SOL, intending to get rid of it. If he was educated by a sorcerer and had a large capacity for magic, might not one also be forgiven for a suspicion Gourry used to know magic but a trauma erased the knowledge?

Official word on the dog with Luna in the eyecatch is that it is Dilgear. It is also official knowledge that, despite being the Knight of Ceipheid, Luna does not practice magic.


End file.
